It is oftentimes necessary to convey articles between different locations and/or form the articles into a suitable arrangement for a particular purpose. Where fairly stable articles, such as cylindrical cans or bottles, are to be conveyed from location to location, it is well known that such articles can often be conveyed along a belt from one location to another at a fairly fast rate.
It is also now known that conveyed cylindrical articles such as containers can be formed into a single line (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,500,229, 4,730,955 and Re. 32,684) or formed into a plurality of rows, including being formed into a nested relationship (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,535,880, 3,685,632, 4,721,419, 4,834,605 and 4,934,508).
It is likewise known that articles can be repeatedly conveyed by groups, or tiers, of articles to a pallet (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,759,673, 4,834,605 and 4,934,508), and that tiers, of articles can be conveyed to a pallet using a sweep arrangement (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,934,713 and 4,978,275).
It is also known that groups of articles can be stacked in vertical layers on a pallet with a sheet placed between each layer formed by a group of articles (see, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,759,673 and 4,809,965).
Likewise, it is known that unstable articles can be palletized (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,667,808).